


Hope grows between them

by RCas



Series: Season 11 [3]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 14:43:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13859913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RCas/pseuds/RCas
Summary: As Scully and Mulder get a glimpse of William during the events of Ghouli, they lean on each other for support. Together they explore some of the pain of missing their son's life even as they hold on to a fragile hope for his future.





	Hope grows between them

Things were slow in the office that week. Mulder spent time shuffling through old X files and new cases coming through the FBI database. Dana was tempted to rifle through the cabinets looking for any occurrences of telepathy between mother and child, but she disciplined herself to do research on forensics topics instead. It was a slow work week, except for some strange character out in the parking garage. Finally, the weekend arrived and they headed for the house.

 

Dana loved waking up on Saturday mornings at the house. It felt luxurious in their big bed in the old house. Morning light came slowly to their bedroom and she let herself linger between sleep and waking. The cold sheets next to her told her that Mulder had been up for hours. She rolled over into his pillow, breathing in his scent.

"Hey, you want the pillow or the real thing?" He was standing in the doorway.

"The real thing." 

He quickly stripped down and was in bed, pulling her to his chest. "Good morning." He dropped a kiss on her head.

"Good morning. How long have you been up?"

"Oh, a few hours. You?"

"I'm not sure that I'm up now."

"Hmm, well, let me wake you up then." 

She smiled into his chest. This was another part of Saturday mornings that she loved.

 

****

Later, Dana sat on the porch steps. She'd just finished up a yoga routine. It stretched her muscles, loosened some of the kinks that built up during the week and settled her mind. Overall, her Saturday morning was starting off nicely.

"You all stretched out now?" The screen door snapped closed behind him as Mulder wandered outside. He was in old jeans and t-shirt, bare foot. 

"You could do with some yoga, Mulder. When was the last time you touched your toes?"

"Without bending my knees? Scully, I don't know if I could do that even when I was a kid." He grinned as he sat down next to her. "Why do you think I go barefoot on the weekends? Less exertion."

Dana leaned into his shoulder. "What do you want to do with the rest of the day?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know. You're planning to dazzle me with an incredible meal tonight, right? Do we need to go shopping?"

"Yes we do. Speaking of meals, Jim wants to get together for dinner next weekend. He's bringing Annette. Sound good?"

"Yeah, Mulder. Does dinner together mean that they're reconciling?" Mulder very much wanted his friend to be happy, and she knew that he thought that meant getting back together with his wife. 

"I think that might be premature, but hopefully this is a good sign." 

 

These ease of the weekend ended with the drive back to their apartment and preparing for the work week. Dana went through her usual routine of thinking about what they'd have for dinner during the week, making sure her clothing was ready, her go back was packed and generally turning her thoughts back to work. When they went to bed Sunday night, she felt especially drowsy.

 

Mulder was shaking her shoulder, telling her to get up. Dana felt the long, hard pull back to consciousness. She'd been dreaming, a liquid, heavy dream with a dark figure. When her eyes focused she noticed that he was showered. 

"Mulder, what time is it?"

"It's late. I've been trying to wake you. Come on, love, you need to get up."

She glanced at the clock and felt a jolt of adrenaline. "Shit, Mulder. We've got a early meeting with Skinner."

"I know. Get in the shower. I'm done and the coffee's on."

The rush through her morning routine was unsettling. Finally they were in the car, Mulder driving and talking about the meeting with Skinner. She tried to focus, but the dark pull of the dream distracted her. When they got to the Hoover, Dana got around to checking her email and found that their meeting with Skinner had been rescheduled.

"Thank God," she sighed when she told him. "I'm not ready for a meeting."

"What's up? You got plenty of sleep."

"Yeah, but I had a disturbing dream. Let's get into the office and I'll tell you about it."

He settled in behind his desk, but Dana couldn't manage to sit still. Pacing, she told him about the dark figure, the strong compulsion. 

"Dark figures are usually meant to be avoided," his brow creased. "Where was it leading you?"

The photo on his desk suddenly caught her eye, the ship so much like the ship in the snow globe that it felt undeniable. Every bone in her body felt certain they were the same ship and her blood rang with a kind of calling. Dana felt a strange sense, as if she were being summoned to the location. 

"There," she told, him pointing at the ship. "That's the same boat."

It was an open X file, one that Skinner had sent down. Soon they were off, heading to Norfolk, Virginia.

****

 

Dana dropped heavily onto the hotel bed. It had been an incredibly long day. The discovery that it had been their son dead on the floor and the sudden disappearance of his body left her throbbing from the emotional roller coaster. Mulder was unpacking a take out meal on the small table by the window.

His hand was on her shoulder. "Come on, love, you need to eat."

"Mulder, do you think he's safe? Where could he be?" She let him pull her to the table. Looking down she saw a salad with a sandwich, warm tea sat to the side of the meal. She couldn't move herself to eat. He, on the other had, was digging in to a huge burrito. 

"Scully, take a few bites, then we'll talk." She rolled her eyes at him. "I mean it. You need food. Eat."

She lifted the sandwich. As she chewed her first bite Dana was surprised to find that she was starving. As she kept eating she took note that he'd stripped off his jacket and tie, unbuttoned his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. He looked as tired and wasted as she felt.

"Thank you for the food. Now, do you think he's alright?"

Mulder nodded, chewing. "I think he's very resourceful and creative, so yes, I think he's alright. "

"Our son, Mulder." It came out of her as a gasp and Dana could feel the tears building in her eyes. "I can't believe it. He's out there."

 

They finished eating in silence then got ready for bed. When they were snuggled together, her back to his front, the words rushed out of her.

"I wish we could have seen his face without the gunshot wound." She spoke softly in the dark of the hotel. "Do you think he looks like either of us?" 

"It's hard to have such a small glimpse of him." He squeezed her.

"He has your dark hair."

"I hope I passed on better traits than hair."

"I'm sure you did, Mulder." She stroked his forearm. "And I love your hair."

He was quiet, his arms around her. She felt him take a deep breath, his chest pressing against her back. 

"Talk to me, Mulder."

He took another deep breath and when he spoke his voice was a gravely whisper. "I'm just hoping that we get to see him again, that he makes it out of this okay. I'm sure those were DOD agents at the Van de Kamp's, they must be looking for him. And he knows something about Project Crossroads, it was on his laptop." He stopped, taking measured breaths.

"Are you scared, Mulder?"

She felt him holding his breath. Finally he let it out and nodded.

She rolled towards him, her hands on his chest, one over his heart.

"I am too, Mulder. I scared we won't see him again. Terrified that he'll be hurt." She swallowed the other fear, the one that was too big to speak. "But I'm certain he wants to find us, Mulder. He wants to know us. That thought gives me hope."

"Hope is such a dangerous thing, love. For years I've kept myself from hoping."

"Hope is a difficult thing, Mulder. It takes so much courage. So much conviction."

"Courage and conviction."

She looked into his eyes, which she could just make out in the dark room from a bit of light coming in at the edge of the curtain. She couldn't see his expression, but she could feel his heart beating, steadier now, under her hand. "I think between the two of us we can hold on."

He pressed his lips into her forehead and took another deep breath. "We can hold on, love."

****

 

They were driving back to DC from Norfolk, getting a late start to the morning. After the scene at the hospital the night before it had been hard to get to sleep. Her sense of loss was coupled with a sense of worry. And just a bit of hope. Through the night, they'd wake up sweaty and worried. Then they'd hold each other and she'd whisper words of hope while he stroked her hair.

Light streamed into the car as Dana turned the jar in her hands. She had an ache in her chest, a combination of the uncertainty of where William might be now and her concern for his state of mind. He'd caused the DOD agents to kill each other and she ached at the idea of how he might feel about that. When she looked up and saw the windmill all thoughts slipped away.

 

******

 

"Oh my God, Mulder, that was our son." Dana leaned against the vehicle, just a foot away from where she'd stood talking to the friendly old guy who was really William. The sun felt warmer on her face than it had just minutes ago. She couldn't help but smile, he was safe. Mulder was smiling too, running his hands up and down her arms. "He's safe, Mulder. He's okay."

"And he found you, Scully, again." 

"That was him outside of the hospital too, that night that we matched the DNA samples." She looked up at him, eyes shimmering. "That's twice I've talked to him without knowing it."

"You said he seemed familiar."

"And now I know why." 

They smiled at each other. Dana felt like a giddy girl.

"Scully, listen, we've got to keep this to ourselves. Nothing in our report about your dreams or meeting William, agreed?" His look was intense, piercing. Dana was high from the realization that it was William, not ready to come back to this. "Scully, you with me?"

"Yeah. Agreed, Mulder, nothing in our report."

"Good. Skinner said the DOD is hunting down all of the subjects from Dr. Matsumoto's work. They don't need to know that we're connected to Jackson Van de Kamp."

"What if they already do, Mulder?"

"Skinner said Dr. Matsumoto destroyed all of his files, so we don't know what amount of information they have. We're not going to give them anything." He paused, then squeezed her elbows. "I told Skinner, Scully. When he came down here yesterday I told him that Jackson is our son."

She felt her jaw fall open. "Do you think that was a good idea?"

"Skinner's on our side, Scully. If he knows, he'll make it harder for the DOD to get their hands on information about Jackson."

"I hope you're right."

 

They got in the car and headed for Washington. During the drive Dana let her mind wander back to images of his room, his journal, photos from his childhood, the face of the Asian man he'd taken when he spoke to her. She felt herself trying to pull a life's worth of information out of just a few items and only a short time in his home. Impressions and details rose to the surface - hair falling over his eyes from underneath his baseball cap, the tall capital letters of his writing, the gentleness in the smile he gave her at the gas station. Before she knew it they were entering the metro area.

 

They picked up a pizza on the way to their apartment, and once they had changed they ate standing up, taking slices of nearly-cold pizza out of the box. 

"Mulder, what do you know about Project Crossroads? Why do you think I was a part of it?"

"I don't know much, certainly not as much as I'd like to know now. It was a project that used alien technology to create human-alien hybrid DNA. You had branched DNA in your system when you were returned." 

Scully let the the past lie quiet. It was the future she was focused on now. "If the DOD is tracking it down, we're going to have a hard time finding information without calling attention to ourselves."

He nodded. "I wish the Gunmen were here." Dana heard the ache in his voice. He had been gone when they died. She suspected that he believed he could have prevented their deaths if only he had been there. "We need to find some new super geeks."

"New Gunmen? Don't tell me that you know another group of highly paranoid conspiracy theorists?"

"Try to hold onto your cash the next time I introduce you to a geek squad, Scully."

"I'm only going to fall for that one once." They smiled together at the memory of the first time she met Langley, Frohike and Byers. "We were both so young."

"Yeah, and you were innocent." His gazed glazed over with a memory, then he came back to the conversation. "This time the geeks are going to be young, and in all likelihood, they'll think we're the innocent, naive ones."

"The youth of today are that cynical?"

"I think it's a sign of the times."

They got their fill of cold pizza. Dana was exhausted and ready for bed. Mulder was restless and said he was going to stay up. She kissed him goodnight.

Under the familiar sheets and comforter, she sought sleep, hoping for another dream, a message sent from William. 

 

It was deep in the night when she woke up. Not from a dream, but from a need to go to the bathroom. A glance told her that it was nearly 3am and Mulder's side of the bed was untouched. She found him in the living room, sprawled on the couch with a notebook open over his chest.

"Mulder, wake up." She shook him gently.

He was slow to come around. Finally he groaned and opened his eyes. "Scully, where are we?" 

"We're home, at the apartment. You fell asleep on the couch." She urged him into a sitting position. "Come on, let's get you into bed."

 

The next morning they both woke late, Mulder hitting the snooze button on the alarm until finally she drug herself out of bed. After her shower she met him in the kitchen, cup of coffee in hand.

"We both look terrible, don't we?" She added more sugar than usual.

"I know I feel terrible," he shook his head. "I'm going to have to drink coffee non-stop to get through this day."

"Me too. We better get to the office."

"Yeah."

 

They spent the day preparing their intentionally vague report for Skinner, uploading it late in the afternoon. Dana hoped they'd get out of the Hoover building without seeing him. She was worried that Mulder had shared that critical piece of information with him. Skinner had always been difficult for her. There had been times when he'd saved their asses and she knew he respected them and their work. It was possible, she admitted to herself, that he cared about her and Mulder. But even still, she didn't trust him. There was something deep in her gut that questioned him. She tried to put it aside; that feeling had been there on and off over the long years.

Mulder was at his desk, reading online, engrossed in the material. Dana walked around behind him to look over his shoulder and found him reading an article about constructing dark data networks.

"Mulder, what are you doing?"

"I'm checking up on some reference material."

"For what?"

He cleared his throat. "For a story I'm thinking about."

She shook her head. "Do you think we'll get out of here without having to talk to Skinner?"

"We can hope." Just then the phone rang. He looked at it. "But we're not that lucky, Scully."

 

Sitting in front of Skinner's desk, Dana held her face in a composed, neutral mask. Beside her, she could sense Mulder doing the same. 

"Your report contains typical twists and turns, agents. There was a body and then there wasn't. You state that Jackson Van de Kamp created the image of his dead body as a means of escape."

"That's right, sir." Mulder answered. 

"The local police are calling it was a murder-suicide. Your report states otherwise. You suspect unknown shooters who fled out the back door just as you entered through the front."

"Yes, sir. As Mulder explained in our report, the splatter patterns around the bodies indicate two different entry angles that couldn't have been accomplished by a single shooter in the short period of time between the shots we heard fired."

"And you have no idea who those shooters are?"

"No, sir. Local PD was not inclined to look for evidence to support that theory," Mulder answered. "They could try to match the bullets that killed the Van de Kamps to the guns of the dead DOD agents, but I don't expect that local PD will do that."

Skinner nodded. "And after the events and deaths in the hospital, you have no leads on the suspect?"

"There's a suspect in those deaths, sir?" Scully asked, the gnawing doubt about Skinner blooming in her stomach. 

"Aren't you suggesting in your report that Jackson Van de Kamp caused them to shoot each other?"

"It is possible, sir. But that's not how the local police saw it and they're not looking for a suspect," Mulder replied.

"So you have no leads on the whereabouts of Jackson Van de Kamp?" Skinner's eyes moved from one to the other, his gaze settling on Scully.

"No, sir," she answered, holding on to her neutral mask.

 

****

They were both quiet after they left Skinner's office. Mulder said he was done for the day, so they packed up an left. Still quiet in the car, Dana began to wonder.

"When we get home, Scully, let's change and go for a walk. I need some fresh air."

 

They were out the door in less than half an hour. Mulder steered her to the car, saying there was a park he wanted to go to. He remained quiet and, following his lead, so did she. 

When they finally got out of the car and started walking, Dana's curiosity was killing her. 

"What are you up to, Mulder?"

He took her hand. "Why do I have to be up to something?"

"This feels just a little too cloak and dagger. Why are you being so quiet?"

He swung their hands as they followed a paved path into the park. Plenty of people were out enjoying the weather now that the rain had passed. "Thinking about the Gunmen made alarm bells go off in my head. I'm wishing we could have the apartment, house and car swept for surveillance measures."

"You think because of our connection to William that someone is listening in? How would they know about that?"

"They may not know, or they may have files from Project Crossroads that contain our names. They may have a file on you that references Crossroads. That alone would make us targets if they're hunting down kids from the project." He was quiet for a few steps. "Mostly, though, Scully, I just have a bad feeling that we're being watched."

Looking around the park it was hard to imagine. But then the memory of two cars following them to Norfolk and the nagging suspicion when they spoke with Skinner settled in. 

"So what do we do?"

"We're going to go for a walk and enjoy the afternoon." He smiled at her. He looked relaxed in his dark jeans and black jacket. "At a certain point, I'm going to leave, you're going to drive back to the apartment. I'll be home much later."

"Mulder, what are you up to?"

"I'm going to go see a man about a horse." His glanced asked her to go along. "Don't wait up for me." 

She nodded, certain she wouldn't sleep until he was home.

 

Back in the apartment Scully rambled around, touching their books, putting on soft music then turning it off. She'd just never gotten good at waiting.

Standing near his desk to look out the window, Dana glanced down and saw the black-covered notebook she'd seen him with last night when he fell asleep on the couch. Mulder didn't do his writing on paper, not that she knew of, at least. He was always tapping away on a keyboard. So what was this? She turned it over. As she flipped through the pages it was obvious right way: he was writing to William. 

 

Tucked into the corner of the couch, Dana started at the beginning, which was dated only yesterday. He opened it, Dear Jackson. Her throat tightened. Their son had a name, a history, and up until a few days ago, parents he loved. He had girlfriends, he'd done a bunch of writing, and when he was a little boy he'd played baseball. The weight of all she'd missed crushed her. Trying to stay afloat, she read Mulder's entry. 

"Dear Jackson, you're 17 and on your own. Already you have the burden of visions and, I suspect, a growing interest in the truth about who you are, what you are. Foremost, you are a product of love. Your mother, Dana Katherine Scully, and I have loved each other for so long. Together we have searched for many truths about things that happened to us, about dark conspiracies and prophecies. During all of that searching, all those tests of our faith and our resolve, we loved each other. And you were born from that love.

You were also born from a twisted, dark conspiracy that, though we have sought to understand, we still don't know the full truth of it. Both of us were experimented on, both of us were exposed to things that are, literally, not of this world. We don't know what has been done to us, what changes have been made. Whatever they are, they've been passed on to you. 

You've struck out on the road, son. Wherever you are, I hope you know that we love you. I want to believe that you can feel our love, have in some way felt our love for you through your whole life. Your mother gave you up because it was the only way to keep you safe from threats we could not protect you from. Even though we didn't get to see you grow up, grow into a man, we have loved you every day. You have always been in our hearts. You are still.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, we will always love you."

Dana read his opening over and over again, letting Mulder's words sink into her heart. He went on, giving their son the backstory of their work, providing him with information. Clearly, Mulder wanted to lgive William as much story as he could, so unlike what his own father had done for him. She could tell he wasn't done yet, the depth of the information making for a long account. He was giving him a map and compass, the story of the truths they'd sought and why it had been so important.

 

The weight of Mulder's hand on her shoulder brought her slowly out of sleep. Dana felt the cushion behind her back and the soft weight of the journal on her belly. He was sitting at her hip, a soft expression his face.

"Do you mind that I read it?"

He shook his head and took her hand. 

"Do you think we'll ever be able to give it to him?"

"I'm sure we will, somehow." Mulder glanced around the room, bringing back concerns about surveillance. Dana's hand came to her lips, had she said too much?

"It's okay. I just installed a counter-surveillance measure that should make it safe for us to talk in here."

"Mulder, what have you been up to?" She sat up, placing the journal on the table. 

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Oh, picking up some hardware, talking to some folks."

"Did you meet some new geeks?"

"It's too early to say, Scully." He tugged her up. "Come on, let's go to bed."

 

As she drifted awake, Dana felt his warm hand on her back and his breath on her shoulder. His breathing was relaxed, quiet. Was Mulder sleeping in with her on a Saturday morning? Opening one eye, she found him sound asleep on his side, face deep in his soft down pillow. She watched him sleep for a while, then decided that she had to go to the bathroom. Moving slowly, she was able to leave the bed, but she came back.

Sliding back under the blankets woke him and he pulled her to him, tucking her against his chest in the hook of his arm. 

"Your skin's chilly."

"I had to pee. Now you can warm me up."

He hummed and pressed his lips into her hair. She felt him doze off in the soft light of morning. Here in the apartment the morning light of their bedroom was a bluish gray; out at the house it was warmer. That was one of the things that made it feel more like home to her, with books stacked on every step of its narrow staircase and its dark corners. The apartment felt more like putting on a work suit. The house felt like slipping into well-worn jeans. She could really use some time at the house, she thought, to soak up its sense of home. But they had dinner with Jim and Annette tonight, so they'd be staying at the apartment all weekend. 

Mulder rolled into her, pressing the length of his body to hers, her head to his chest. "Scully, stop thinking, I'm trying to sleep."

She chuckled. "I think you're out of luck. I'm awake, I'm hungry and I want coffee."

"Go then." He pretended to push her out of bed, then pulled her back and buried his face in her hair. "I'm tired."

"You had two late nights in a row."

"Don't remind me, just let me sleep."

Dana closed her eyes and stroked his hair, trying to let her mind drift into a quiet place. She listened to his breathing. She could tell he wasn't falling back to sleep, but she stayed still and quiet, their limbs tangled together, their skin warm. They laid like this for awhile, his finger tracing a short length of her spine as he gave up on sleep.

"You addressed your letter to Jackson," she said softly.

He nodded into her hair. "That's his name."

She sighed. "It's so odd. In my mind he's always been William, even though I know he would have been given a name by his adoptive parents." She drew away from him. "When we do get to meet him, we're going to have to call him Jackson."

He nodded. "He has his own identity, his own history. If we're going to get to know him, it will be Jackson that we're getting to know, not the version of William that we've carried."

"Do you have one?"

"A version of William?" He looked into her eyes, his own darkening like they did when he was in pain. "Yeah. There are so many things I've imagined doing with him, and you, over the course of his life. Our life. So many things that feel like memories, but aren't."

She nodded. "I've imagined his first birthday, his first day of school, what subjects he'd like, you teaching him to play catch, all so many times."

"Yeah," he nodded. "And grounding him for sneaking out, man to man talks about girls and bullies, teaching him how to drive a stick shift."

"Wandering through museums to look at dinosaurs and bugs. Watching the wonder in his eyes."

"Making up answers about why the sky is blue."

"Teaching him to ride a bike."

"Watching the stars."

They were smiling at each other, tears slipping down each of their faces. It was painful, but it was a clean pain. Dana could feel it swelling in her chest, transforming into something like joy. She could see it in Mulder too. His eyes twinkled.

"Telling him about aliens."

"Instructing him in scientific method." She grinned.

"So he can prove the existence of aliens."

"Mulder," she laughed. "You're telling our kid tall tales."

"Those are the best kind, Scully," he smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. They held each other for a while longer, letting this hope grow between them.

 

Mulder spent a good portion of the day writing in the journal to William. Jackson, she kept reminding herself, to Jackson. While she cleaned and puttered around the apartment, Dana kept rehearsing calling him Jackson. She wanted to get it right when they met. She was sure that they would. She could feel it coming. 

 

When evening finally rolled around they dressed casually and left to meet Jim and Annette. Walking up to the Italian restaurant Jim had selected, they saw him standing outside alone. Dana could tell from the slope of his shoulders that Annette wasn't coming. 

"Hi, you two," he tried for a chipper greeting and missed. 

"Hi buddy," Mulder shook his hand. "What's going on?"

Jim sighed, looked away for a moment, then squared his shoulders. "She couldn't make it." He held Mulder's eyes for a moment before dropping his poker face. He let out a short breath. "Actually, she backed out just an hour ago. It felt too much like a date, too much like we were a couple, is what she said."

Mulder nodded.

Jim looked toward the restaurant. "I didn't go in because it seems like the wrong place for third wheel."

"Well come on," Mulder clapped him on the shoulder lightly, "let's go find a place that suits us."

Soon they were settled into a booth with beers between them and pizza ordered. 

"So what have you two been working on lately?" Jim looked slightly more relaxed in the low light of the pub, but his question made it clear that he didn't want to talk about his wife.

"We were out on a case in Norfolk last week," Mulder said. "Unexplained case of two teenage girls who attacked each other, both claiming that they were only defending themselves against a monster."

Dana looked at him, surprised by his neutral tone. It was the one he used when he was withholding information from Skinner.

"Oh yeah, did you find a monster?" 

"No, there wasn't any evidence of a monster," Scully told him, trying to keep it light. "The girls had both been to a website called Ghouli where they read stories that may have put the idea into their minds."

"It turned out that they both had the same boyfriend. He wrote the blog and constructed the story of Ghouli," Mulder added. 

"So was he involved in the attack?" Jim asked, seeming glad for a topic so removed from how his night was unfolding.

Mulder's hand tightened on her knee under the table. Scully turned to look at him, the look in his eye telling her that he felt shitty about what they were and weren't saying to his friend. She bit the inside of her lower lip, waiting as emotions raced across his face.

"There's more to this story, isn't there?" Jim asked as he leaned forward. 

She could see that he wanted to share this with Jim, and she gave Mulder a short nod. He twined his fingers with hers under the table. 

"Yeah, there is. We didn't find the young man, but we got his name. His parents were murdered shortly after the incident with the girls and he disappeared." Mulder paused, still looking at Jim, as he bit his own lip. He took one deep breath and let it out slowly. "Jim, Scully and I have a son. We had to give him up when he was just a baby." 

Shock swept over Jim's face. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine," his eyes moved from one face to the other. "Are you saying?"

"That this boy - what am I saying? He's 17 - that this young man, is our son?" Mulder gave Jim a long look, then nodded. 

"You're sure? After all these years?" he asked. 

"We're sure, Jim," Scully told him. " This week we found our son."

She felt it again, this fragile hope blooming between them, and squeezed Mulder's hand. He squeezed back.


End file.
